With elections due to be called by August next year, the upcoming election naturally became the focus for today’s Gerakan National Delegates’ Conference, which was geared towards the upcoming election and recapturing of the Penang government.

In an exhibition just outside the conference venue, half the exhibition space was filled with posters showcasing Gerakan’s achievements, while the other half was dedicated to posters criticising the DAP-led Penang administration.

As the party that once helmed the state, many Gerakan delegates also took pot-shots at DAP’s administration, particularly in wake of the recent floods and landslides, not unlike what took place in the Youth Wing and Women’s Wing debates yesterday.

Despite Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s bullish talk about the possibility of retaking the state, however, party president Mah set a far more conservative target.

“I can only answer that we can only do better than last round. I do not want to set any targets. I am confident that we will do better than last round.

“I am very sure we will have representation in the (Penang) state assembly because I think there needs to be a lot of check and balance…

“We can see a lot of things happening in Penang, so I think this is an important role to play. I’m confident that Penang voters will give Gerakan a chance,” he told reporters after the conference.

Gerakan helmed Penang’s state administration from 1969 to 2008 but had all of its representatives voted out of the Penang legislature thereafter. It also no longer has any MPs in the state.

At the national level, Mah said Gerakan expects to win at least five parliamentary seats and 12 state seats. He declined to name the seats, however, saying that the party had merely assigned a probability of winning each seat it plans to contest.

He said Gerakan, which currently holds two parliamentary seats and three state seats, is also in negotiations with its BN partners to field candidates in seats traditionally contested by other component parties.

Meanwhile, Mah said this year’s conference, which was themed “Satu Negara, Sehati, Sejiwa” (One Country, One Heart, One Soul) is meant to highlight the importance of unity and loyalty in winning elections.

Mah himself also took the opportunity to take a swipe at DAP and the present Penang government in his policy speech, and at a later press conference.

Among others, he questioned the supposed increase in the number of housing developments in Tanjung Bungah under DAP’s leadership, and claimed that opposition leaders lacked loyalty to their constituents, because they are moved to contest in other constituencies between elections.

If the aim was to sway Penang voters to vote for Gerakan however, their cause could not have been helped by Zahid’s (photo) speech at the conference, who claimed that the floods that hit Penang and left seven dead last week had been a “sign from God” that Penang is ripe for the taking.

The deputy prime minister’s remarks echoed those made by other BN leaders, who implied that the flood was at least partly attributable to divine fury, which were met with great public backlash towards Umno, and especially MCA.

Gerakan’s more measured response to the flood and criticism of overdevelopment in Penang, meanwhile, steered the party away from similar controversy.

But with Zahid’s speech on their home turf of Dewan Wawasan, Mah was put in a position where he would have to cover for his cabinet colleague’s remarks.

Asked to respond to the remark, Mah noted that he understood it to be a caution against overdevelopment.

“I interpret this as: we have to take care of the environment and nature. So, if we don’t take care of the environment and nature, nature will have a reaction.

“(This is) not only in Penang, but anywhere in the world. So, we must always look after the environment and prevent overdevelopment,” he said.